Sylvania



No. 750,009. PATENTED JAN. 10, 1904. E. THORDQN. ELEOTROMAGNETIGGEARING.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. B, 1903- INVENTOR ATTORNEY.

PATBNTED JAN. 19, 1904.

DON.

E. THO ELEGTROMAGNE I0 GEARING.

No, 750,009. PATENTED JAN. 19, 1904.

v E. THORDON.

ELECTROMAGNETIC GEARING.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 6. 1903.

N0 MODEL. 3 SHEETS-$111131 3.

Hil

mnvzssss: m ENTOR I nrronsr.

UNITED STATES Patented January 19, 1904.

PATENT OFFICE.

ERIC THORDON, OF PITTSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO THE WESTINGHOUSEMACHINE COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF PENN- SYLVANIA.

ELECTROMAGNETIC GEARING.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 7 50,009, dated January19, 1904.

Application filed February 6, 1903. Serial No. 142,242. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, ERIo THoRDoN, a citizen of the United States, and aresident of Pittsburg, in the county of Allegheny and State ofPennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Improvement inElectromagnetic Gearing, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to electromagnetic gearing employed fortransferring power from one rotating shaft to another either at the sameor at a difierent speed; and it has for its object to provide gearing ofthis character which shall be comparatively simple and inexpensive inconstruction, substantially free from liability to disarrangement orinjury, and which shall be smooth and substantially noiseless inoperation.

The various forms of gearing which are generally employed fortransferring energy from one shaft to anothersuch as belts, cog-wheelsand pinions, friction-wheels, and sprocketwheels and chainsare in manycases noisy, particularly when operated at high speeds, are subject toexcessive wear, and are liable to disarrangement and breakage inservice.

My invention is substantially free from all of the objectionablefeatures pertaining to other forms of gearing and is illustrated in theaccompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a view in end elevation ofone embodiment. Fig. 2 is adetail view of a portion of the mechanismshown in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a sectional view of a portion of theapparatus shown in Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view of amodified construction. Figs. 5 and 6 are transverse sectional viewstaken, respectively, on lines V V and VI VI of Fig. 4:. Fig. 7 is a sideelevation of one member of another form of my invention; and Fig. 8 is aview, partially in side elevation and partially in section, of bothmembers constructed in accordance with what is shown in Fig. 7 portionsof the shaft and the supporting-framework being omitted.

Referring particularly to Figs. 1, 2, and 3, which illustrate myinvention as embodied in a speed-reducing gearing, the driving-shaft 1is illustrated as the shaft of a steam-turbine 2,

and on this shaft is mounted awheel 3, having an annular set ofelectromagnets 4, the coils of which may be supplied withenergizing-current in accordance with the usual practice where it isnecessary to supply the coils of rotating members of machines withenergiZing-currents. These coils may obviously be supplied in series, inparallel, or in parallel series, provided the circuit arrangements aresuch as to provide poles or sets of poles of alternating polarity. Asindicated, the poles alternate in polarity, and this will be thesimplest and generally the most desirable arrangement, though in somecases it might be feasible to have two or more adjacent poles of thesame polarity.

Mounted in suitable bearings in standards or pillars 5 is a shaft 6,having a wheel 7, the rim 8 of the wheel being provided with an annularset of clectromagncts 9, the outer faces of which move in closeproximity to the outer faces of the electromagncts 4 of the wheel 3 whenthe two wheels rotate.

The coils of the magnets 9 may be supplied with energizing-current inthe usual manner and preferably so that the pole-pieces alternate inpolarity, as indicated in Fig. 2, though they may be arranged in groupsor sets if those of the wheel 3 are so arranged.

A single base-plate 10 may be provided for the entire mechanism, or thetwo members of the gearing may be mounted upon separate bases, if forany reason such arrangement is desired.

In order to insure the passage of the magnetic lines of force betweenthe two sets of magnets 4. and 9, I provide conducting-paths therefor,which, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3, consist of masses of curved ironplates 11, subdivided into groups of any desired or suitable number, thegroups being separated by non-magnetic plates 12, of insulated copper orother suitable material. These groups 11 of laminated iron might beseparated by air-spaces or by non-conducting material, and it is mydesire and intention to include such a construction within the scope ofmy invention. I prefer, however, to employ electric conductnetic fluxbetween the two members of the gear in the manner desired for thepurpose of securing the maximum rotative effect. Since only a portion ofthe poles of the member 7 are active at any one time as magneticelements of the gearing, it would be feasible, and perhaps desirable insome cases, to cut the inactive coils out of circuit by some convenientmeans; but in general it will probably be found more advantageous tosimplify the apparatus by supplying the energizing-current to all of thecoils continuously, even though only a portion of them are at any onetime active in connection with the propelling member 3.

The speed reduction here indicated is from five to one; but of courseany other ratio may be provided, the relative size of the members andthe number of poles and coils being made in accordance with the speedratio desired.

As the shaft 1 is rotated, by any suitable means, the magnetic fluxbetween the poles 4E and the poles 9 of opposite sign will obviously,through the magnetic passages 11, exert a certain pull upon the member 7and effect rotation of its shaft 6 at a speed corresponding to the ratioof speed reduction determined by the diameters of the two members andthe number of magnetic poles.

As indicated in Figs. 1 and 2, the mechanism is shown as operatingwithout load. Obviously if the member 7 is driving a load its poles willlag behind those of the member 3 in accordance with the amount of suchload, and the driving or pulling torque will increase with this laguntil a maximum pull is reached.

Referring now to Figs. 1, 5, and 6, the driving-shaft 1 is provided witha propelling member 3, which may be the same in construction andarrangement as the member 3, (shown in Figs. 1 and 2;) but it is hereindicated as having four poles and coils 4:, which act in conjunctionwith two sets of flux-conductors 11 and two Wheels 7, which are mountedupon corresponding shafts 6 and have annular sets of coils 9, (hereindicated as twelve in number,) and therefore as providing a speedreduction of from three to one. The shafts 6 are in turn provided withwheels or magnetic pinions 13 corresponding to the wheel or pinion 3,and these wheels or pinions act in the manner already described to drivea wheel 14:, mounted on a shaft 15, a flux-conductor 16 being providedbetween the wheels 13 and the wheel 1 1 and the ratio of poles and coilsbeing such as to provide a further reduction from three to one.

Referring now to Figs. 7 and 8, the driving-wheel 17 has a shaft 18mounted in bearings 19 in standards 20 in substantially the same manneras is indicated in Fig. 1, and the wheel is shown as provided with fourannular sets of magnets 21, 22, 23, and 241, which are arranged in anoffset or step relation, and the driving-pinion 25 is similarly providedwith four sets 26, 27, 28, and 29, which are offset or arranged in astep relation in the opposite direction to those of the sets 22, 23, and24:, so as to provide a more continuous rotative pull upon the shaft 18of the driving member. The number of sets may of course be more or lessthan four, this number being merely illustrative and not intended torestrict the invention to specific numbers or dimensions of parts.

While I have shown the driving and the driven wheels as out of actualphysical contact, I desire it to be understood that such physicalengagement may exist either incidentally or by intentional design, andwhenever, the said wheels are referred to in the claims as in proximityto each other such descriptive terms are to be construed as meaningeither physical contact or any operative relation that falls short ofsuch contact.

Other variations in dimensions and relations of the elements employedmay of course be made without departing from my invention, and Itherefore desire it to be understood that the invention is not to belimited except as limitations may be imposed by the prior art.

I claim as my invention 1. An electromagnetic gear comprising a wheelhaving an annular set of electromagnetcoils, in combination with anadjacent wheel having an annular set of electromagnet-coils and meansfor conducting the magnetic flux between adjacent, unlike poles of thetwo wheels.

2. The combination with a driving-shaft having an annular set ofelectromagnet-coils, of a shaft having an annular set ofelectromagnet-coils arranged to move in proximity to theelectromagnet-coils of the first set and means for conducting themagnetic flux between adjacent poles of the two sets of mag net-coils.

3. The combination with a shaft and a pinion or wheel thereon which isprovided with an annular set of electromagnet-coils the poles of whichalternate in sign, of an adjacent wheel having an annular set ofelectromagnetcoils the poles of which alternate in sign and masses oflaminated iron located between the two sets of magnets and terminatingin proximity to both sets.

4. The combination with a driving-shaft and a wheel or pinion thereonwhich is provided with an annular set of eleetromagnet-coils, of adriven shaft, a wheel thereon which is provided with an annular set ofelectromagnetcoils arranged to move in proximity to those of the firstset and masses of laminated iron and interspersed plates of non-magneticmetal located between the two sets of electromagnets and terminating inproximity to both.

5. The combination with a driving-shaft and a pinion having an annularset of electromagnet-coils and pole-pieces, of a second shaft, a wheelmounted thereon and provided with an annular set of electromagnet-coilsand polepieces movable in proximity to the first-named set, masses ofcurved iron laminae located between the two sets of electromagnets so asto conduct the magnetic flux between the same and non-magnetic platesseparating said iron laminae into groups.

6. The combination with a driving-wheel having one or more annular setsof electromagnet-coils and pole-pieces, of an adjacent wheel differingin size from said drivingwheel and also having one or more annular setsof electromagnet-coils and pole-pieces and a curved flux-conductor whichsubstantially surrounds the smaller wheel and projects into proximity tothe adjacent portion of the larger wheel.

7. The combination with a driving-shaft and a wheel thereon which isprovided with a plurality of annular sets of electromagnet-coils andpole-pieces, of an adjacent shaft, a wheel thereon which differs in sizefrom the driving-wheel and is provided with a plurality of annular setsof electromagnet-coils and pole pieces that are moved magnetically bythe driving-wheel magnets and a flux-conductor which substantiallysurrounds the smaller wheel and projects into proximity to the adjacentportion of the larger wheel.

8. The combination with a driving-shaft, a wheel thereon which isprovided with a plurality of annular sets of electromagnet-coils havingpole-pieces disposed in a stepped or offset relation, 01 an adjacentshaft, and a wheel thereon which is provided with a plurality of annularsets of electromagnet-coils having pole-pieces that are oppositelydisposed in a stepped or ofi'set relation so as to magneticallyintermesh with the magnets on the wheel of the driving-shaft.

9. The combination with a wheel having a peripheral set of radialpole-pieces and magnetizing-coils thereon, of an adjacent wheel having aperipheral set of radial pole-pieces and magnetizing-coils thereon andmagnetic flux conductors disposed between the two wheels.

10. The combination with two adjacent wheels of diflerent size, eachhaving a peripheral set of radial pole-pieces and magnetizingcoilsthereon, of magnetic flux-conductors disposed between the two wheels.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto subscribed my name this 2d day ofFebruary,

ERIC THORDON. Witnesses:

JAMEs B. YOUNG, BIRNEY HINES.

